Come Back Home
by xmxsummer
Summary: Helga leaves for California and Gerald just wants her to come home. One Shot.


**Inspired by "Cold Beer With Your Name On It" by Josh Thompson!**

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><p>"It's beautiful out tonight." The young woman curled closer to the man who had his armed wrapped around her. How many nights had they spent just like this? She couldn't even count anymore. It didn't matter though; they were all special to her. This night was different, this was their last night together. She was leaving for California in the morning and he…well she didn't quite know what he would do when she left.<p>

"Yeah, it is." A smile touched the young man's lips as he looked down to her and kissed her forehead gently. "You know I love you right?"

Her chocolate brown eyes turned up to meet his and she smiled. "Of course I do, and you know I love you too." She leaned up and kissed his lips gently, maybe the last time she ever would. "We'll still keep in touch…and we can visit."

"It's going to be real quiet around here without you around. " He laid his free hand over hers and sighed inwardly. He had tried to talk her out of it, of course he had…but this was one of her dreams. He loved her enough to let her go, and maybe one day she would be back.

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><p><strong>Two Years Later<strong>

Gerald sighed as he lay back on the blanket, arms folded behind him. The sky was filled with millions of stars, a perfect night. Well, almost perfect. The only thing missing was Helga. It was hard to believe it had already been two years since she'd left. They had talked on the phone a lot at first, but now…well he could barely even remember their last conversation. She seemed happy though, and if she was happy he was happy, right? He sat up again and picked up the beer can, taking a sip. He remembered the day they had become an item, clear as day

It was after graduation; they had all packed up and headed down to the beach for at least a few days. Helga had been unusually quiet, even for her, on the trip down. Then she tried to exclude herself from the rest of the group. Phoebe, when Gerald had asked, had no idea what was wrong with her best friend. Helga wouldn't even tell her.

Now, he and Helga had gotten on better terms the last couple years of high school. Being the only person each other knew in a few of their classes made grouping up easy. Even though Gerald had no trouble making new friends, part of him knew that Helga did. After all they had grown up together. It wasn't exactly pity he felt for her- she would have knocked him out if she thought he was pitying her- even now Gerald didn't know what it was.

So that night, while everyone else was laying in their tents and sleeping bags, Gerald walked over to where Helga was sitting on one of the giant boulders. He climbed up beside her and sat down, but didn't say anything. He just kept his focus straight ahead, watching the waves rippling and washing up on to the shoreline.

"I should've just stayed home."

Gerald looked over as Helga spoke up finally. "Now why would you say something like that? Who would want to stay home when the weather is this beautiful?" When Helga turned to him, there were tears in her eyes and he immediately was on alert. "Helga, what's wrong?"

That was when it all came spilling out. Right there on that rock in the middle of the night, with all of their friends asleep about five feet away. Late in the summer, their last one before Senior year she had hooked up with Michael Hart- captain of the football team, flirt, and in Gerald's opinion a worthless loser to put it nicely. She had gotten pregnant and he wanted nothing to do with it, saying that it wasn't his and everything else under the sun. So she was going to go it alone- didn't even tell Phoebe about it. Then about three months in when she was just starting to show, she miscarried.

It was messy and terrifying but her sister had rushed her to the hospital. In the end, everything was fine except the emptiness Helga felt. She explained that about this time the baby would've been born, she would've been a mother.

For her to share something like that with him, Gerald didn't quite know how he felt, but he held her closer, whispering gently to her until her tears calmed and she fell asleep in his arms.

Gerald laid back down and looked up at the stars. They were inseparable after that, right up until the day she left. As his eyes slipped closed he wished that she would just come back home.

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><p><strong>One Year Later<strong>

Helga took a deep breath as she pulled up to her parent's home. Well, it used to be theirs. Olga owned it now, though she never lived in it anymore. It was all Helga's, though she had been gone for three very long years, so who knew what the state of it was. As she stepped inside there was a faint musty smell like Olga hadn't even opened the windows or stopped by to check anything. There were also memories, so many of them, both good and bad…but mostly good.

California was okay, at first it was amazing. It was so enthralling and there were so many opportunities for screenwriters. She even had a hand in the writing for the best-selling summer blockbuster last year. It was too much for her though. There were too many people, too many noises, too much of everything. Sure it tended to get like that here too, but at least here was familiar and here she had friends. In the three years she'd lived in California she didn't meet one person that she would ever consider a friend and that was sad. The one thing missing had been Gerald.

As the sun set, Helga started off on her walk. In the back of her mind she knew exactly where she was going. She didn't know if he would be there, she hadn't talked to Gerald in so long. She hadn't even called to say she was coming home for good. As she drew closer to her destination, quiet music filled the air. They never had listened to music before, then again they hadn't needed any extra noise when it was just them.

Stopping just a few feet away, Helga watched Gerald's outline and a smile touched her lips. He was sitting up, looking at the stars. The radio was on one side and a beer can on the other. She raised an eyebrow, two beer cans. They always had a beer when they went out here, it was just one of those things that seemed to fit. Finally she exhaled silently and took the last few final steps, sitting down beside him on the blanket. She stayed silent, looking up at the sky, almost like when he had come to her that first night on the beach.

Gerald didn't look over, but he reached out and laid his hand on her own. Helga turned to look at him now, turning her hand to hold his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm not leaving you again." She said softly.

Gerald turned now to meet her eyes and smiled. "I had hoped you'd come home." He wouldn't tell her now that he had planned this to be his last night here, and tomorrow his plans to just start driving anywhere. That he wouldn't have been able to get over her if he stayed…but now he didn't have to worry about that.

"I don't know what I was thinking," She laughed. "or how I even considered I could live without you." She leaned up and kissed him as his hand let go of hers and wrapped around her to pull her closer.

He returned the kiss gently and laughed. "Well now we don't have to worry about it."

"No, no we don't." She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder, looking up at the sky. "It's beautiful out tonight."


End file.
